Grammatical development in second languages. Exploring the boundaries of Processability Theory

Grammatical development in second languages. Exploring the boundaries of Processability Theory
Author: Camilla Bettoni
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2015-08-07
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1329427653

Processability Theory is Manfred Pienemann's highly cited psycholinguistic theory of Second Language Acquisition offering a transitional paradigm that accounts specifically for the development of grammar. This volume expands on PT's explicit (falsifiable) and universal definition of developmental stages, and proposes (a) fresh interpretations of earlier achievements; (b) explicit treatment of the development of syntax and its interface with discourse-pragmatic motivations and (c) numerous pointers for future studies.Part I of the volume introduces the editors' new approach to the theory. In part II it offers a finer-grained staging of L2 development with reference to three typologically different languages: English, Italian and Japanese. Part III explores languages (Russian, Serbian), issues (Spanish differential object marking, German V2 in declaratives vs questions), populations (L2 in autistic learners), and applications (L2 teaching through CALL) not previously treated in PT.

Processability and Language Acquisition in the Asia-Pacific Region

Processability and Language Acquisition in the Asia-Pacific Region
Author: Satomi Kawaguchi
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2023-02-02
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027254915

This PALART volume makes an original addition to the Series as it opens a stimulating window on the Asia-Pacific region of the world by bringing together a great deal of empirical and theoretical new work in Second Language Acquisition within the Processability Theory (PT) framework. Readers will be pleasantly surprised to be able to access, within one publication, so much novel and overview information on SLA while maintaining its focus on PT, its theoretical developments including its 2005 (Pienemann et al.) and 2015 (Bettoni & Di Biase) extensions and how they relate to PT’s foundation work (Pienemann 1998), as well as its applications to language learning and teaching in Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Malay and English in countries of the Asia-Pacific region including Australia. This volume demonstrates the vitality and the dynamic nature of PT and its potential as a tool for understanding SLA both theory and practice.

Widening Contexts for Processability Theory

Widening Contexts for Processability Theory
Author: Anke Lenzing
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2019-11-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027262187

This book explores relationships between Processability Theory approaches and other approaches to SLA. It is distinctive in two ways. It offers PT-insiders a way to see connections between their familiar traditions and theories with other ways of working. Parallel to this it offers readers who work in other traditions ways of connecting with a research tradition that makes specific testable claims about second language acquisition processes. These dual perspectives mean that both beginning and established SLA researchers as well as those seeking to connect their work with views of language learning will find something of interest. Studies of multiple languages and multiple aspects of language are included. Chapters cover areas as diverse as literacy, language comprehension, language attrition and language testing.

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Morphosyntax, and Semantics

The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Morphosyntax, and Semantics
Author: Tania Ionin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 586
Release: 2024-03-11
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1003823505

This handbook provides innovative and comprehensive coverage of research on the second language acquisition (SLA) of morphosyntax, semantics, and the interface between the two. Organized by grammatical topic, the chapters are written by experts from formal and functional perspectives in the SLA of morphosyntax and semantics, providing in-depth yet accessible coverage of these areas. All chapters highlight the theoretical underpinnings of much work in SLA and their links to theoretical syntax and semantics; making comparisons to other populations, including child language acquirers, bilinguals, and heritage speakers (links to first language acquisition and bilingualism); dedicating a portion of each chapter to the research methods used to investigate the linguistic phenomenon in question (links to psycholinguistics and experimental linguistics); and, where relevant, including intervention studies on the phenomenon in question (links to applied linguistics). The volume will be indispensable to SLA researchers and students who work on any aspect of the SLA of morphosyntax or semantics. With its coverage of a variety of methodologies and comparisons to other populations (such as child language acquirers, early bilinguals, heritage speakers, and monolingual adults), the handbook is expected to also be of much interest to linguists who work in psycholinguistics, first language acquisition, and bilingualism.

Understanding Second Language Processing

Understanding Second Language Processing
Author: Bronwen Patricia Dyson
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2017-05-24
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027265879

This book aims to help researchers and teachers interested in language processing and Processability Theory (PT) to understand this theory and its applications. PT is an influential account of second language processing which hypothesizes that, due to the architecture of language processing, learners acquire second languages in developmental stages. This book lays out PT’s predictions and research on the development of diverse target languages – particularly English and Scandinavian languages – by learners of various categories. It discusses the typological issues facing PT and its contribution to an understanding of variation and cognitive constraints on pedagogy. However, the book also raises a critical eye to the literature which, after almost twenty years of evolution, requires explanation, clarification and, in some cases, extension. Why do some phenomena belong to different stages in different languages? Why are important types of variation under-represented? Is teaching as constrained as proposed in PT?

Teachability and Learnability across Languages

Teachability and Learnability across Languages
Author: Ragnar Arntzen
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2019-06-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027262594

Teachability and Learnability across Languages addresses key issues in second, foreign and heritage language acquisition, as well as in language teaching. Focusing on a Processability Theory perspective, it brings together empirical studies of language acquisition, language teaching, and language assessment. For the first time, a research timeline for the role of instruction in language learning is presented, showing how the field of second language acquisition (SLA) research has developed over the last four decades since Pienemann’s work on learnability and syllabus construction over the 1980s. The book includes studies of child and adult second as well as foreign language acquisition research, covering a wide range of target languages including English, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. In addition, future extensions of PT are discussed. This volume is designed for advanced students in international programs of SLA and Applied Linguistics as well as for SLA researchers and second and foreign language teachers.

Dynamic Variation in Second Language Acquisition

Dynamic Variation in Second Language Acquisition
Author: Bronwen Patricia Dyson
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2021-08-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027259763

Dynamic Variation in Second Language Acquisition makes a cutting-edge contribution to knowledge about how second language learners develop their second language. Drawing comprehensively on Processability Theory’s theoretical understanding that individual variation dynamically interacts with ordered stages of language acquisition, the book provides an informative, critical analysis of historical and contemporary debates about the role of variation in linguistic variation, particularly second language variation. Richly illustrated with a forensic year-long study of how eight adolescent learners of English vary in their acquisition of syntax and morphology, this monograph shows that learners vary in their timing of development between two distinct learner types along a continuum and without skipping stages. The book uncovers how learner variation is dynamic and quite (although not entirely) systematic and how this variation contributes to change in the second language. It will be essential reading for researchers, students, and practitioners.

Second Language Learning Theories

Second Language Learning Theories
Author: Rosamond Mitchell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 452
Release: 2019-01-21
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317206762

Written by a team of leading experts working in different SLA specialisms, this fourth edition is a clear and concise introduction to the main theories of second language acquisition (SLA) from multiple perspectives, comprehensively updated to reflect the very latest developments SLA research in recent years. The book covers all the main theoretical perspectives currently active in SLA and sets each chapter within a broader framework. Each chapter examines the claims and scope of each theory and how each views language, the learner and the acquisition process, supplemented by summaries of key studies and data examples from a variety of languages. Chapters end with an evaluative summary of the theories discussed. Key features to this fourth edition include updated accounts of developments in cognitive approaches to second language (L2) learning, the implications of advances in generative linguistics and the "social turn" in L2 research, with re-worked chapters on functional, sociocultural and sociolinguistic perspectives, and an entirely new chapter on theory integration, in addition to updated examples using new studies. Second Language Learning Theories continues to be an essential resource for graduate students in second language acquisition.

New educational landscapes: innovative perspectives in language learning and technology

New educational landscapes: innovative perspectives in language learning and technology
Author: Alessia Plutino
Publisher: Research-publishing.net
Total Pages: 104
Release: 2019-07-10
Genre: Education
ISBN: 2490057472

This edited collection presents a selection of contributions made to the 12th eLearning symposium, held at the University of Southampton, in January 2019. It focusses on how innovative and creative language teaching approaches can respond to modern, ever-transforming educational landscapes. Our contributors are educators from higher education across the UK and the world, and topics include: virtual reality and gamified learning in languages, digital field trips, open educational practice, massive open online courses, and telecollaboration. We hope that this volume will inspire practitioners to experiment with new responses to the challenges that technology brings into language education.

Grammatical Categories in Linguistics and Education

Grammatical Categories in Linguistics and Education
Author: Holden Härtl
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2024-11-04
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3111141063

This volume explores how grammatical categories, as defined by theoretical linguistics, are effectively implemented in language education. Aiming to bridge the gap between linguistic research and language pedagogy, it offers a detailed inquiry that spans theoretical frameworks and empirical data. By presenting a series of insightful studies, this work illustrates how findings from theoretical linguistics can be applied to enhance practical language instruction, demonstrating the reciprocal enrichment of both fields. Essential for linguists, language educators, and researchers interested in the intersections of grammar, cognition, and pedagogy, the volume is organized into four engaging sections. Each section illuminates the nuances of grammar teaching and language acquisition. It begins with a theoretical analysis of linguistic categories across diverse languages, progresses through the links between linguistic research and teaching methodologies, and delves into the role of empirical data in classroom applications. The final section focuses on the practical implementation of linguistic categories in language teaching, promoting a deeper understanding of grammar as a dynamic component of language learning.